


Soft And Warm Continuing

by unfathomableTortoise



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Hiking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-02
Updated: 2017-06-02
Packaged: 2018-11-08 06:04:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11075559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unfathomableTortoise/pseuds/unfathomableTortoise
Summary: Feferi Peixes had never had a problem with the cold- which is why she was so surprised when the next gust of wind started to make her feel uncomfortably chilly.(Feferi and Aradia go hiking. They encounter a few technical difficulties.)





	Soft And Warm Continuing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [arwainian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/arwainian/gifts).



> I got a request for arafef from the lovely Arwen, and I think this got away from me a bit. Nevertheless, enjoy!

The thing is, Feferi Peixes had never before had a problem with the _cold._

Cold was fine! Her body was adapted for the freezing, high-pressure depths of Alternia’s oceans, after all. She was used to spending all her days far deeper than most other trolls would go in their lifetime, deep under the sea, the only place her lusus could call home. It was her home, too, of course- and for all its solitude, she loved it. She loved the dark places, quiet and soothing, where she didn’t have to rely on lousy sight, but on the movement and the taste and the _feel_ of the water. She loved the alien-looking creatures that peppered the sea floor, covered in spines and suction cups and all sorts of cool glowy bits! She loved the contented hum of her lusus after she’d finished a meal, shaking the water around her (even if it made her head hurt just a _little_ too much to be comfortable). She even loved the cold- the familiar, even temperature that she was so uniquely suited for.

Which is why she was so surprised when the next gust of wind started to make her feel _uncomfortably_ chilly. She glanced up at her matesprit, a couple metres ahead of her, climbing along like nothing was wrong.

 _She’s got some of the warmest blood around!_ thought Fef. _How is she not absolutely freezing at this point?_

As she watched, Aradia grabbed a tree and swung around to face her. “Isn’t this _great_?” she asked, grinning widely.

Feferi smiled back at her girlfriend. “Shore is,” she agreed halfheartedly. They’d been climbing this trail for a solid three hours or so, moving at a fairly slow pace so as to accommodate Aradia, who was still getting used to her new body. (Aradia had wanted to carry herself with her psionics when she got tired, but Feferi wouldn't hear of it- she didn’t want Aradia to use up all her energy on a simple climb! "And plus," she'd said at the time. "I could use a nice, slow walk shoreside! I haven't reely spent much time up here in too long, anyway."

"You sure haven't," Aradia'd teased, but then she smiled in a way that said _it's all right, though, and I'm really glad you're here_ , and Feferi felt right at home.)

At the beginning of their hike up the mountain, Feferi had been perfectly fine. She’d even been kind of hot- between their brisk pace and the early evening's lingering warmth, she'd had to take off the sweatshirt Aradia had insisted on lending to her. ("It gets pretty cold up there," she'd warned. "I know you're cool-blooded, but it never hurts to take an extra layer!"

"Well, I can always cuttle with you if I get cold, can't I?" responded Feferi, winking. Aradia'd laughed delightedly, and Fef's heart skipped a beat. _Holy Steller's Sea Cow_ , her girlfriend was beautiful.)

The thing _was_ that when she took off the sweatshirt, Aradia had unabashedly turned around to ogle her, and, you know, that hadn’t exactly motivated Feferi to put it back _on_. Maybe it was a silly decision in retrospect, she admitted, but since she had soon got tired of carrying it around her waist, she'd packed it into her pack at lunchtime. Now it was buried under a pile of dishes and packages of trail rations, effectively unattainable at the moment. And after lunch, Aradia had started to feel unsteady again, so they had been taking it slow for the past couple of hours. Finally, about an hour ago, the wind had started to pick up, to the point that Feferi was actually starting to notice it on her exposed arms. ("I think a storm might be coming in soon," had commented Aradia, eyes on the clouds.)

 _I really wish I hadn't already packed the sweatshirt,_ thought Feferi wistfully as she stared at her bundled-up girlfriend, hopping from root to root like a mountain goat. Aradia was humming a tune that Fef was _sure_ she'd heard at some point. (Maybe one of the songs Sollux had linked her to in one of his internet-trolling phases? she mused. Probably not- if he were going to share a song about any number, it wouldn't be the number one, that was for sure.

Suddenly, she felt a drop of wetness on her face, and glanced up at the sky. A wave of relief washed over her- Aradia's promise of rain seemed to be coming true. To be back in her element, even to such a small degree, was always comforting. Thinking about it, Feferi realized that this might actually help with her chilliness! She was pretty sure she remembered that water was a temperature regulator. Maybe it would help her warm up? _Anyway, water's NEVER bad news,_ she thought, pushing forward with renewed energy.

Ten minutes later, she was starting to regret the boldness of that statement. The water was pouring down in sheets, now, and it was all absolutely _freezing_. To make it worse, it seemed to exacerbate the effects of the wind- as far up as they were, it was starting to bite into her arms, and it was truly unmerciful. Aradia seemed to be finally feeling the effects of the wind, as well- huddled in against the rain, she was obviously vibrating in the way that she did whenever she was cold. She'd dropped back to walk with her matesprit, though, and Fef whenever glanced over, she could still see an beautifully (and adorably determined) look on Aradia's face.

She noticed that Aradia was starting to lag behind again, though- her limbs seemed to be stiffening up, like they always did when Aradia insisted on working too hard. Feferi knew that her girlfriend would keep pushing on until she dropped, but that _really_ wasn't necessary on a casual camping trip. She knew Aradia had been looking forward to this for a while, and she didn't want to have to bring her back early. So, sighing, she tapped her girlfriend on the shoulder. When Aradia stopped and turned around, she scooped her up in a bridal carry. Aradia started to protest, but then decided against it, preferring instead to slump back into her girlfriend's arms. "There's a cave over past those trees," she supplied, tired. "I saw it when I was climbing a little while ago. We can stay there for a little while, I guess- it's probably silly to try to set up camp in this rain, anyway."

The cave felt further away than it had any right be. Although her matesprit was comfortably warm against her chest, in Feferi's opinion, this trek was rapidly becoming utterly miserable between the cold and her exhaustion. After what seemed like forever, she collapsed just inside the mouth of the cave, unceremoniously dumping Aradia into her lap. "Hey!" the latter protested laughingly. “Come on, you can’t just lie out there.”

“I’m beat, gillfrond,” pronounced Feferi. “I’m spent! I am shrimply OUT OF ENERGY! Sorry, Ray, you’re gonna have to leave me here. Go on without me,” she continued, starting to giggle. “Save yourself!”

Aradia laughed right back, and half-pulled Feferi deeper into their newfound shelter. It was bigger than she'd thought it would be from the outside, Fef noted- the cave went into the rock on an angle, making a fairly cozy-looking alcove that conveniently faced out of the wind. As she lay on the ground, she could hear Aradia bustling around above her, rifling through a pack. A moment later, she felt a warmer, smaller presence cozying up against her shoulder.

"I figured we would eat in a bit, once we're warmed up," said Aradia, matter-of-factly. "I think I'm going to take your earlier suggestion, though, first- I'm cold, and cuddling seems like the best way to warm up, even if my girlfriend's body temperature is usually about as low as most corpses. Wow," she remarked, pulling back slightly- "you're _soaked_ ! I can't believe you're not even shivering at this point- I mean, I know you're cool-blooded, but come on _,_ you have to be at least a _little_ bit cold by now.”

“I’m actually pretty glubbing cold,” Feferi admitted. “FREEZING, you could even say! Wait, come back here, I want to steal some more of your body heat. And anyway, what are you talking about, shivering?”

“Huh, is that not something you do? No, wait, nevermind, that kinda makes sense- you’re more at risk of overheating than overcooling, most of the time, so automatic warm-up mechanisms are probably fairly counterproductive. Do you think that shivering came up, evolutionarily- oh, wait, shivering’s the. Shaking, I guess? That I do when I’m cold. Anyway, do you think it came up before or after the seadweller divergence? Because I can see…” Aradia trailed off, staring at her huddled-up girlfriend. “I guess that can wait a bit. Here, can you change? I know you like the wet in general, but wet cloth is _really not fun_. I can get you out a pair of clothes from your pack, if you’d like.”

“Actually, that would be absolutely fintastic,” Fef responded, sitting up. “They’re in the outer pocket of- oh, nevermind, there you go,” she continued, catching the skirt that was being thrown at her face. Aradia turned around to rifle through her own bag, and Feferi took the opportunity to shimmy into the change of clothes. Slightly more comfortable now, she ambled over to Aradia, who was peering up at her from a pile of blankets.

“Oh, so is _this_ what you were trying to arrange? A blanket fort? You know,” Feferi teased, “If you’ve already got a cuttle-buddy in the form of a non-sentient blanket, whale then, I know when I’ve been replaced-”

“Oh, be quiet, you,” Aradia complained jokingly, pulling her down into the pile.

Sighing happily, Feferi snuggled up tightly with her (warm, warm) matesprit. Aradia started to hum again, running her fingers through Fef’s hair, and Feferi felt herself start grinning, inescapably.

“You know, for all the absolute carp we’ve had to wade through to get to this point,” she muttered sleepily, “right now, I’m just glad I'm here with you."


End file.
